ifttt

Pros

One of the best websites for automating small tasks.
Supremely easy to understand and use.
Supports dozens of apps and services.
Excellent and clear interface.
Free.

Cons

Some automations take longer than others to take effect.
No warning flags if a channel is deactivated but used in a current recipe.

Bottom Line

'If this, then that' shortens to ifttt, and that's all you need to remember because this amazingly simple yet powerful service can automate just about anything else, from backing up your photos on Facebook to sending you text message reminders of upcoming appointments.

May 8, 2018

Before a scheduled calendar event begins, post a reminder to Slack. Automatically create an archive of your Spotify Discover Weekly playlists. Tell Google Assistant to change the color of your Hue lights. These automations are simple examples of what you can build with IFTTT, which rhymes with "gift" and stands for "if this, then that." IFTTT is a free service that lets you connect a wide variety of internet-connected apps, services, and devices, even if you don't know how to code. The IFTTT website and mobile app help you build commands (which IFTTT used to call Recipes and now calls Applets) using bright, visual cards and powerful fields. IFTTT and its more business-oriented competitor Zapier are both Editors' Choice services for productivity.

IFTTT vs. Zapier

As mentioned, both IFTTT and Zapier help you connect apps and services that otherwise would not communicate with each other. Both are effective productivity tools and work well, but there are some subtle differences.

Foremost, IFTTT and Zapier differ in their areas of focus. For example, IFTTT works with digital voice assistants (Alexa, Cortana, Google Assistant, and Siri), as well as smart home devices (such as lighting, appliances, and security systems). Zapier does not offer this functionality. Instead, it offers more functionality for the enterprise crowd, including hooks to services such as Amazon S3, GoToWebinar, SQL Server, Wrike, and Zendesk. The two do overlap in the cloud, mobile, productivity, and social spaces, however. Both IFTTT and Zapier support Asana, Dropbox, Facebook, Google Drive, Instagram, Slack, SMS messaging, Trello, and Twitter.

One major difference is that IFTTT offers mobile apps for Android and iOS, while Zapier only has a web interface. On the other hand, Zapier lets you create multistep (3+) automations, while IFTTT limits users to a single step connecting two actions. For example, using Zapier, you could set up a Zap that follows this outline: If I receive an email attachment in Gmail, then create a new task in the to-do app Todoist, and then post it to a Slack channel.

It's important to note that companies and services can create multi-action steps with IFTTT, but it's is unclear when this functionality will reach regular users.

Pricing and Platform

IFTTT is free (as of this writing) and anyone can sign up for an account with an email address. The company has said it planned to introduce paid plans, as quoted all the way back in a 2014 New York Times article, but the service remains completely free to use at the time of this publishing.

Zapier also offers a free version, albeit one with limited capabilities. Free account users can run up to 100 tasks per month, can have up to five Zaps active at any given time (they run every 15 minutes), and cannot use Premium apps. Zapier's Premium apps are simply those that it restricts to higher account tiers, such as MySQL, PayPal, QuickBase, QuickBooks, Salesforce, Zendesk, and many others. (These do not otherwise work any differently than the regular apps, however.) Furthermore, free users cannot enable Autoreplay, a fail-safe measure that reruns Zaps on a staggered schedule if they don't work on the first try. Zapier's paid plans, which unlock premium apps, enable the Autoreplay feature, and increase the frequency with which Zaps run, start at $20 per month.

You can use IFTTT's web interface or Android or iOS apps to build Applets. We tested IFTTT on a Nexus 5X running Android 8.1. Although Zapier does not offer mobile apps for any platform, it does support some mobile-based functionality, such as SMS messaging. On the other hand, IFTTT can access system-level information like battery status, ringer volume, and notification data on Android and can access App Store data, reminders, and the built-in calendar on iOS.

Getting Started

IFTTT's web interface has a bright, modern, and inviting design complete with bold colors, large card-style elements, and smooth animations. Across the top, IFTTT shows tabs for Discover, Search, My Applets, and Activity. On the right-hand side of the screen, you can click on your profile icon to create a new Applet, manage your connected services, access account settings, or sign out. From the account settings section, you can connect a profile picture from another service, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Tumblr. You can also set up two-step authentication for more secure sign-ins. Enabling two-factor authentication is wise for any service, but especially for IFTTT, given the number of other accounts you will likely end up linking to it.

The Discover tab highlights a few different collections of Applets of note, such as those aimed at photographers or space enthusiasts. Below that, it recommends Applets that may interest you based on those you've already created or enabled. If you click on any of them, IFTTT opens a dedicated page for the Applet with a more detailed description. You can enable the Applet directly from here, as well as see who created it (such as IFTTT, the service itself, or an individual user), how many people use it, and what apps it combines. You can click on individual creator profiles to see what other Applets they created.

The next section over, Search, is where you can see every app and service IFTTT supports. You can search by name or general category, dive deeper into one of its listed categories, or scroll all the way to the bottom and click to reveal them all at once.

Next up is the Applet tab, which breaks down into two sections: Applets and Services. The Applets side shows all of the automations you currently have enabled for your IFTTT account. You can click on individual Applets to enable or disable them, get more information, or change related preferences. To the right, Services, shows every account you have linked or built-in service that you use across any of your applets. You can also start the Applet creation process from either section.

The last section on the web dashboard is Activity. Here, IFTTT lists every account activity, such as when an Applet ran (or failed) or when you linked a new service, going back to the very beginning. Each instance shows the date and time, and you can click through to see the total number of times an applet ran. However, we wish there were more organizational or filtering tools here, as you find with Zapier. The longer you use IFTTT, the more unwieldy this section becomes.

Creating Applets

You have two options when it comes to Applets in IFTTT; either you use one that someone else already created or you build your own. To add an Applet to your account, just head over to the Discover or Search tabs to spark the creative process. If you see anything that appeals to you, simply click on the card, and switch it on. An example—if it's going to rain tomorrow then send me a text message—is what started the whole site, as we learned in an interview with IFTTT founder Linden Tibbets. For some ideas on just what you can do with an Applet, check out our roundup of the best IFTTT Applets.

Some Applets require you to sign in to other accounts, but the simplest ones only require an email address or phone number. For example, you could use IFTTT to automatically send a text from your Android device to your spouse (or whoever really) when you leave work each day. Other Applets simply rely on the IFTTT app to push notifications. For example, you can enable an Applet that notifies you every time the International Space Station passes above your home.

Some of the pre-built Applets require you to enter additional information or give further customization options, but the methods for doing so are all visually consistent and mostly easy to understand. For example, all of the map-based functionalities use the same fluid interface, though we wish you could set a default location for all of them.

Other parts might trip up some users. For example, with the work departure Applet, you have the option to change what appears in the message body. This section allows plain text input, as well as data snippets, which IFTTT calls ingredients. In this example, it gives you a dropdown list of three items: Occurred At (the time you left work), LocationMapImageUrl (a picture showing the location you left), and LocationMapUrl (a link to the map). Of course, other Applets have different Ingredients, though some do not require them at all.

If this is confusing, take the time to experiment with all the options. As with anything, the best way to understand how to use IFTTT is simply to keep at it. For comparison, IFTTT requires the same learning curve as Zapier. Once you get more comfortable with how IFTTT works, you can start building your own Applets.

To start, simply click on the Create Applet button. As mentioned, IFTTT stands for "if then then that," so you can think of an Applet as having two main parts: this and that. IFTTT makes this connection obvious; it simply shows the above sentence on the creation screen, except "then" has a bright blue hyperlink and plus icon. You click on that link to start the six-step process. It helps to go through the process already knowing what you want the Applet to accomplish. Let's say, for example, you want IFTTT to add a new entry to a spreadsheet each time you upload a video to Vimeo.

The first step is to specify the trigger service. In the case of our example, you select Vimeo as the trigger. As with, Zapier, IFTTT generates a list of trigger events related to the app, along with a description of each. To build our example, select the New Video Upload card.

IFTTT then brings you back to the original page, where you click on the "that" part of the sentence, which now sports its own hyperlink and plus icon. Next, you choose the action service and the trigger action, in this case, Google Sheets and its Add a Row to Spreadsheet function. Completing the action fields comes next (telling IFTTT exactly what to do).

In our example, you need to define the name of the spreadsheet you want to use (it creates a new one with the new name if it doesn't already exist). You also choose what information IFTTT adds to the spreadsheet and its format. This is where ingredients come in to play. Vimeo provides a couple of ingredients you can add anywhere in the setup, including in the Spreadsheet name and folder path, such as Title, Caption, URL, Embed Code, and UploadedAt. The last step is just to review the Applet you created and choose whether to enable notifications for when it runs.

In testing, this Applet worked as advertised. After we uploaded a short video to our Vimeo account, IFTTT added all of the requested information to a spreadsheet. The one catch is that the video has to be public in order for IFTTT to correctly detect the action. Also, as we mentioned, you can't create more than one action step in an Applet with IFTTT right now. Zapier lets you add as many steps as you want. So in theory, we could tell Zapier to go one step further and post the uploaded video to Slack or Twitter, for example.

Mobile Apps

IFTTT offers apps for both Android and iOS. The apps carry over the same visual design from the website with a clean look and vibrant card-based elements. We had no issues installing or logging into our account on our test device. App performance is quick and we did not encounter any lag.

The app is divided into three sections: Discover, Activity, and My Applets. Each section works exactly the same as it does on the web interface. The app does not limit you in any way. You can create new Applets, enable or disable existing ones, or view all your account activity. The Activity section looks slightly different; IFTTT breaks it down into three areas: Notifications, Everything (such as instances of services connected and apps enabled), and Errors. We wish the web interface had at least this level of organization.

IFTTT for Everything

IFTTT is very capable, highly accessible, and free to use. If you want two disparate apps, IoT devices, or services to communicate with each other, IFTTT likely offers some sort of solution. For those reasons, IFTTT is an Editors' Choice pick alongside Zapier. Both are powerful and flexible automation tools, though they excel in different ways. IFTTT supports smart home appliances and offers excellent mobile apps, while Zapier natively supports more business-centric services and lets you combine multiple steps in a single Zap. IFTTT and Zapier both earn an Editors' Choice rating. You can't go wrong with either (or both) of them.

Before joining PCMag.com, she was senior editor at the Association for Computing Machinery, a non-profit membership organization for computer scientists and students. She also spent five years as a writer and managing editor of Game Developer magazine, ... See Full Bio